Safety hat liner and assembly

ABSTRACT

A liner which, in combination with a hard hat and a harness, provides cold weather protection for one who must wear such a hat or helmet because of the hazardous nature of his work. The liner has a crown portion which extends over the harness within the interior of the hat and a depending flap portion which may, in cold weather, be extended downwardly between the headband of the harness and the rim of the hat. The flap portion may be folded upwardly into the interior of the hat and about the lower rear edge portion of the band when cold weather protection for the ears and neck of a wearer is not required.

United States Patent Park Ridge, II]. 60068 [2] Appl. No. 694,957 [22] Filed Jan. 2, I968 [45] Patented July 27, 197] Continuation-impart of Ser. No. 520.719.

Jan. 14. 1266. abandoned.

[54] SAFETY HAT LINER AND ASSEMBLY 2.795,?92 6/1957 Finken 2 3 3,055,011 9/1962 Austin 2/3 3,154,788 ll/l964 Simpson... 2 3

3,205,508 9/1965 Cox .1: 2/3

Primary Examiner-Herbert F. Ross AttarneyDawson, Tilton, Fallon & Lungmus ABSTRACT: A liner which, in combination with a hard hat and a harness, provides cold weather protection for one who must wear such a hat or helmet because of the hazardous nature of his work. The liner has a crown portion which extends over the harness within the interior of the hat and a depending flap portion which may, in cold weather, be extended downwardly between the headband of the harness and the rim of the hat. The flap portion may be folded upwardly into the interior of the hat and about the lower rear edge portion of the band when cold weather protection for the ears and neck of a wearer is not required.

PATENTEU mam SHEET 1 OF 2 WALTER E. SCHUESSLER HERBER R. WICHMAH -uf [m ,1 y

PATENTEDJULZYLBYI 3,594,814

sum 2 0F 2 l/"JVlZNlY/RS. WALTER ESCHUESSLER HERBERT R. WICHMAN lam-$04 50 ATT'YS SAFETY HAT LINERAND ASSEMBLY This application is a continuation-in-part of our copending application, Ser. No. 520,719, filed Jan. 14, 1966 now abandoned.

BACKGROUND The wearers ofhard hats" are found in increasing numbers in industrial operations, i.e., construction, foundries, all types of manufacture, etc. Very often, such persons must work in inclement weather and the hats, formed usually of plastic or metal, provide little if any protection against the cold. In fact, since such hats are normally spaced from a wearer's head by means of a harness secured within the interior of the hat, a stack effect or draft may be created which circulates cold air between the wearers head and the inner surface of the hat and which may cause considerable discomfort and danger to the wearer.

It has been known that the circulation of chilling air within a hard hat may be blocked by placing a woven fabric liner between the harness and the inner surface of the hat. Such a liner has in some instances been extended downwardly to provide additional protection for the ears and neck of a wearer. However, since woven fabric liners are generally nonstretchable, they tend to fold or crumple within the space between the harness and hat and, for the most part, block the passage of air through that space to such a considerable extent that body heat and moisture are prevented from escaping. Also, woven fabrics, in contrast to knitted materials, are relatively nonbreathable; hence, limited circulation of body heat and moisture is even further restrained.

As a result, wearers of hard hats equipped with conventional liners often find such hats uncomfortable to wear even in cold weather because of the accumulation of heat and moisture within the hat. To release such moisture and heat, wearers frequently remove their hats or at least pull the liners away from their heads, either act exposing the wearer to considerable danger because of the sudden chilling effect following the build up of moisture and heat and because removal of a hat in a work area leaves the worker's head unprotected against falling objects.

The flap portion of a conventional liner is worn in lowered position only during relatively cold weather. Where conditions do not require such additional protection for the neck and ears, such a flap is raised into a retracted position either inside the harness of the hat or upwardly about the outer surface of the hat. If the flap is folded into the interior of the harness then the size of the harness will necessarily be reduced because of the additional material disposed therein; therefore, if the flap is to be so retracted, the wearer must usually readjust the size of the hamess' headband. In any event, he must first remove the hat before the flap can be placed within the harness and, as indicated above, removal of the hat in aworking environment may expose the worker to serious dangers.

If, on the other hand, the flap is to be shifted into a raised position extending about the outer surface of the hat, and may somehow be fixed in that position without requiring the worker to remove the hat from his head, then the aforementioned danger is avoided. However, another danger is presented by such a construction, since the fabric liner is then exposed to the elements and, if moistened because of rain or snow, nullifies the electrical insulating properties of the plastic hat or helmet. For that reason such a construction is clearly unacceptable for use by wearers involved in electrical work.

SUMMARY An important aspect of the invention lies in providing a hat hamess-liner combination wherein the liner is resilient and stretchable, being formed from knitted material, and is under a state of tension when the parts are assembled. Specifically, the resilient liner is to some extent stretched over the harness so that when the hard hat is worn the knitted liner is in close proximity to a wearers head and is spaced from the inner surface of the hat or helmet. Being formed of knitted material, the resilient liner is breathable," and since a space is provided between the liner and the hat air may circulate about the liner to prevent the build up of excessive moisture and body heat within the hat. In short, the stack effect, heretofore considered undesirable, is utilized to provide a beneficial effect without at the same time chilling the wearer because such circulation occurs between the hat and the liner and not between the liner and the wearers head.

Another important aspect of the invention lies in providing a combination wherein the resilient knitted liner extends circumferentially about the headband of the harness and has at least one flap portion which extends downwardly below the headband to cover the ears and neck of a wearer when climatic conditions require such protection. When such protection is not required, the flap may be rolled upwardly to the level of the headband and since the crown portion of the resilient knitted liner is under a state of tension, as described above, such tension effectively maintains the flap in its rolled condition about the headband of the harness. Since the retracted flap is disposed within the peripheral limits of the hard hat, there is no danger that the retracted flap portion will be exposed to the elements and might nullify the electrical insulating properties of the hat.

While the upwardly rolled flap portion of the liner may be accommodated partly within the space between the liner and the inner surface of the hard hat, particularly effective results are obtained where the headband of the harness has a rear portion which extends below the opening of the hat to support or brace the rolled flap and to prevent it from unrolling until the wearer desires the additional protection afforded by the flap when lowered about his neck and ears.

Since removal of the hat is not required in order to shift the flap between its retracted and extended positions, and since the flap is not exposed to the elements in its raised position, the combination of the present invention overcomes major shortcomings of prior constructions.

DRAWINGS P16. 1 is a vertical sectional view illustrating the combination of the present invention when worn with the flap portion in lowered position;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to FIG. 2 but showing the combination when worn with the flap in its retracted position;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view illustrating the three main components of the combination;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view illustrating the interconnection between the elements of the invention.

DESCRIPTION Referring to FIG. 3, the combination comprises a hard hat or helmet 110, a liner 11, and a harness 12. The hat 10 is of conventional construction, having a domelike crown portion 13 and a perimetric brim or visor 14 extending downwardly and outwardly from the edge of opening 15. Normally such a hat is formed from a tough, rigid, and electrically insulating plastic material although, where electrical insulating properties are not desired other materials, such as metals, may be used.

Harness 112 includes an adjustable headband portion 16 which may be adjusted in a conventional manner to fit snugly about the front, sides, and back of a wearer's head. The band is of substantial vertical width and may be formed from leather, plastic, or some other tough and relatively stiff material. While stiffness and lack of stretchability are important features of the band, such band must not be brittle or rigid; it must be flexible enough to conform to the shape of a wearer's head after the proper size adjustment has been made.

Harness 12 also includes strap elements 17 which are connected to the band and which extend between opposite sides of the headband to overlie the head of a wearer. It will be observed that the bowllike interior 18 of the hard hat is substantially larger than the exterior aspects of harness 12 so that when the parts are assembled a substantial space 19 exists between the inner surface of the hat and the outer surfaces of straps 17 (FIG. 1).

Lugs 20 project outwardly from band 16 and are receivable in the V-shaped downwardly extending notches 21 of clips 22 formed about the interior surface of the hard hat adjacent opening 15. Thus, the clips 22 transmit the weight of the hat to the lugs 20 which in turn deliver this stress to the overlapped straps 17.

Liner 11 has a crown portion 23 and a downwardly extending flap portion 24. It is important that the liner be formed of knitted material and, because of its knitted construction, the liner is stretchable, resilient, and porous. The circumferential dimensions of the crown portion are slightly smaller than the circumferential dimension of band 16 and the liner is woven so that when it is fitted over the harness the portion of the liner extending about the headband 16 will be stretched and, because of the resiliency of the knitted material, be under a state of tension. The entire crown portion of the liner is also under slight tension when the assembly is worn because, as indicated above, its dimensions in an untensioned state are somewhat smaller than those of harness 12. Consequently, when the hat combination is worn, the crown portion 23 of the liner fits snugly about the wearers head leaving a space 19 between the liner and the inner surface of helmet (FIG. 1). Such space allows for the circulation of air between the hel met and the liner, as indicated by arrows 25 in FIG. 1 but it will be noted that such circulation occurs outside of the liner rather than between the liner and the wearers head.

Harness 12 is disposed within the liner except for lug portions 20 which project outwardly through liner openings 26 (FIGS. 2 and 3). As indicated most clearly in FIG. 4, lugs 20 releasably engage clip elements 22 of hat 10, the liner 1] being disposed outside of straps 17 except at the point where such straps are joined to headband 16 adjacent the lugs.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, it will be observed that when the parts are assembled the headband 16 of the harness has at least its rear portion extending a substantial distance below the entrance opening for hat l0. Headband l6 fits snugly about a wearer's head, and the portion of the knitted liner extending continuously about the headband is under tension and is therefore in snug engagement with the band. Therefore, while air is free to circulate through space 19 between the liner and the hard hat, it is prevented from passing between the liner and the wearer's head.

When weather conditions require greater protection for the wearer's neck and ears, flap portion 24 of the liner is lowered into the position shown in FIG. 1 and the ends of the flap portion may be connected beneath the chin by suitable fastening means such as button 27 and buttonhole 28. The flap portion 24 is dimensioned to extend downwardly over the ears and the sides of a wearer's face and about the portion of his neck which would otherwise be exposed above his collar. Thus, the flap portion 24, which is knitted integrally with the remainder of the liner, provides cold weather protection for the ears and neck when the flap is secured in the lowered position of FIG. 1.

When such additional protection is deemed unnecessary, the wearer may simply disconnect the fastening means 26 27 and roll the flap portion 24 into the elevated or retracted position illustrated in FIG. 2. It will be observed that the roll extends about the rear portion of the relatively stiff headband l6 and that such roll is at approximately the same elevation, or slightly above the elevation, of the from lower edge of the liner's crown portion. As previously indicated, the portion of the liner extending about the headband is normally under a state of tension even when the flap portion 24 is lowered; when the flap portion 24 is rolled into its raised position, that tension is further increased because of the greater diameter which the knitted fabric of the roll must assume because of its rolled condition. Consequently, the resilient knitted fabric tends to retain its rolled form because of its tensioned condition and because unrolling of the flap would have the initial effect ofincreasing that tension.

It is important that the lugs 20 of the harness be disposed a above the major portion of headband 16, at least along the sides and rear of the headband, so that the points of attachment between the harness and the hard hat do not prevent retraction of the flap portion 24 into the upwardly rolled position of FIG. 2. The substantial spacing 19 between the covered harness and the interior surface of the helmet also plays a significant role in accommodating at least a portion of the flap in its upwardly rolled condition.

While in the foregoing we have disclosed an embodiment of the invention in considerable detail for purposes of illustration it will be understood by those skilled in the art that many of these details may be varied without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

We claim:

I. In a hat, harness, and liner combination wherein a liner is disposed within a hard hat between the interior surface of the hat and the outer surfaces of the straps of a harness which is disposed therein and which is adapted to fit upon a wearer's head, the improvement wherein said harness includes a circumferential band having at least a rear portion thereof extending below the opening for the interior of said hat and is substantially spaced from the interior of said hat to accommodate at least a portion of said liner when rolled, said liner being formed of knitted material stretched about and snugly engaging said band and dimensioned to be stretched over said harness straps when said combination is worn, said liner having a stretchable flap portion normally extending below the rear portion of said band for covering and protecting the ears and neck ofa wearer, said flap portion being capable of being rolled into a raised position about the rear portion ofsaid band at least partially in said space and being maintained in its raised position by the tension of said liner about said band.

2. The structure of claim 1 wherein means are provided for detachably connecting said harness to said hat through said liner, said means including lugs provided by said harness at points substantially above the lower limits of the rear portion of said band.

3. The structure of claim 1 wherein a substantial space for the circulation of air is provided between the outer surface of said liner and the inner surface ofsaid hat.

4. The structure of claim 1 wherein said flap comprises a downward integral extension of the side and rear portions of said liner below said harness.

5. In a hat, harness, and liner combination wherein a harness having straps and a headband is adapted to fit upon a wearer's head, a hard hat is connected by fastening means to said harness along said headband and has its upper inner surface spaced from said harness, and a liner is disposed between said harness and said hat, the improvement comprising forming said liner of stretchable knitted material with a stretchable crown portion a stretchable depending flap portion, said crown portion being of a size in its unstretched state smaller than said harness and being under a state of tension fitting snugly about the straps and headband of said harness and over the crown of a wearers head when said combination is worn, said headband being of substantially smaller diameter than that of said hat at the opening thereof and is substantially spaced from the interior of said hat to accommodate at least a portion of said liner when rolled, said fastening means including lugs at spaced points about the circumference of said band and clips provided by said hat engaging said lugs, the lugs of at least the sides and rear portions of said band being spaced substantially above the bands lower edge, said flap portion normally extending below the rear portion of said band for covering and protecting the ears and neck of a wearer and being capable of being rolled into a raised position about the rear surface of said band and at least partially in said spabe beneath the lugs at the rear of said band, said stretchable flap portion being dimensioned so that when in its raised and rolled condition it is under a state of tension in directions extending circumferentially about said band, said tension thereby providing a force for maintaining said flap in said raised position.

6. The structure of claim 5 in which said crown portion of 5 said knitted liner extends continuously about said headband.

7. The structure of claim 5 in which said rear portion of said headband extends substantially below the opening of said hat.

tions for detachably connecting the same together beneath a wearers chin. 

1. In a hat, harness, and liner combination wherein a liner is disposed within a hard hat between the interior surface of the hat and the outer surfaces of the straps of a harness which is disposed therein and which is adapted to fit upon a wearer''s head, the improvement wherein said harness includes a circumferential band having at least a rear portion thereof extending below the opening for the interior of said hat and is substantially spaced from the interior of said hat to accommodate at least a portion of said liner when rolled, said liner being formed of knitted material stretched about and snugly engaging said band and dimensioned to be stretched over said harness straps when said combination is worn, said liner having a stretchable flap portion normally extending below the rear portion of said band for covering and protecting the ears and neck of a wearer, said flap portion being capable of being rolled into a raised position about the rear portion of said band at least partially in said space and being maintained in its raised position by the tension of said liner about said band.
 2. The structure of claim 1 wherein means are provided for detachably connecting said harness to said hat through said liner, said means including lugs provided by said harness at points substantially above the lower limits of the rear portion of said band.
 3. The structure of claim 1 wherein a substantial space for the circulation of air is providEd between the outer surface of said liner and the inner surface of said hat.
 4. The structure of claim 1 wherein said flap comprises a downward integral extension of the side and rear portions of said liner below said harness.
 5. In a hat, harness, and liner combination wherein a harness having straps and a headband is adapted to fit upon a wearer''s head, a hard hat is connected by fastening means to said harness along said headband and has its upper inner surface spaced from said harness, and a liner is disposed between said harness and said hat, the improvement comprising forming said liner of stretchable knitted material with a stretchable crown portion a stretchable depending flap portion, said crown portion being of a size in its unstretched state smaller than said harness and being under a state of tension fitting snugly about the straps and headband of said harness and over the crown of a wearer''s head when said combination is worn, said headband being of substantially smaller diameter than that of said hat at the opening thereof and is substantially spaced from the interior of said hat to accommodate at least a portion of said liner when rolled, said fastening means including lugs at spaced points about the circumference of said band and clips provided by said hat engaging said lugs, the lugs of at least the sides and rear portions of said band being spaced substantially above the band''s lower edge, said flap portion normally extending below the rear portion of said band for covering and protecting the ears and neck of a wearer and being capable of being rolled into a raised position about the rear surface of said band and at least partially in said space beneath the lugs at the rear of said band, said stretchable flap portion being dimensioned so that when in its raised and rolled condition it is under a state of tension in directions extending circumferentially about said band, said tension thereby providing a force for maintaining said flap in said raised position.
 6. The structure of claim 5 in which said crown portion of said knitted liner extends continuously about said headband.
 7. The structure of claim 5 in which said rear portion of said headband extends substantially below the opening of said hat.
 8. The structure of claim 5 in which said flap portion comprises an integral extension of said crown portion and includes sections adapted to extend downwardly along opposite sides of a wearer''s face, and fastening means provided by said sections for detachably connecting the same together beneath a wearer''s chin. 